Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/658

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��HISTOKY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

��CHAPTER LXV.

POLK TOWNSHIP AND GALION.*

Location — Name — Early Settlers — First Roads — An Indian Camp — Mills — First Schools and Teachers — Early Religious Societies and Preachers — The Establishment of Galion — First Post Office AND Store — Churches — The Railroads and Banks — The Press.

��r'THHIS township was surveyed by Maxfield -L Ludlow, and bears the name of President Polk. It once belonged to old Kichland, but is now the southeastern township of Crawford County. It contains twenty-one sections of land, considered among the richest in Central Ohio. Galion, the only important town, is lo- cated in the southern part of the township. Its early settlers were principally from New York and Pennsylvania.

Benjamin Leveredge and his sons, James and Nathaniel, together with George Wood and David Gill, came in 1817, and were the first settlers on the present site of Galion. To these were added, in 1818, Benjamin Sharrock, and, in 1819, Asa Hosford. The Leveredges did the first clearing and put up the first cabins. Ben- jamin Leveredge's cabin was erected of un- hewn logs, near the spring, now within the cor- poration limits, on Atwood street. That of James Leveredge stood on the site now occu- pied by David Mackey's fine brick residence on Atwood street, and Nathaniel's stood near the center of the present public square. The old well on the square, filled up several years ago, was dug by him, and was but a few 3'ards from his cabin door.

The vicinity was heavily timbered in those days, and rather swampy. This was twelve years before Galion was laid out.

The Whetstone Creek (formerly called the Olentangy) passes a little north of Galion, and upon land north of this creek, George Wood and David Gill settled in 1818, erecting their


 * Now in Crawford County, formerly in Kichland.

��cabins near the old army road over which troops passed in 1812, which was, probably, the first road cut through the township by while men. The site of these cabins is yet marked bj" a few apple-trees.

In those early days, the Wyandot Indians had a camp on the south side of the Whetstone, east of the Catholic Cemetery. They were peaceable, and rendered valuable assistance to the whites at their log rollings, and in the con- struction of their primitive homes.

Asa Hosford, yet living near Galion, relates that he employed these Indians to assist him at a log rolling, the only pay required for their services being a plentiful supply of whisky. In the evening, after working hard all day, and being slightly intoxicated, they, at his request, executed a war-dance at his house. They placed one of their number, named "Buck- wheat," in the center of the cabin floor, and began their dance in a circle around him. They became greatly excited, but Mr. Hosford had taken the precaution to conceal their arms, that they might not be able to commit any serious outrage. After a time, they dragged Buckwheat roughly from his seat, threw him upon the floor, and one of them, placing his foot on his neck, imitated the operation of taldng his scalp, and of plunging their knives into him ; and Buckwheat played his part well, going through all the necessary motions of a dying white man.

These early settlers were followed in 1820 by Nathaniel Story and Father Ketteridge, the latter living with the former, who was a trapper

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